kind of wide-eyed about how much of that snow is still around. it rose above freezing three or four days ago, but i guess it's still dropping below freezing at night because anywhere the roads haven't been cleared a whole bunch of it is still with us. just sitting there. in places it's just an inch or two of ice with water on top of it now. most of the roads in my neighbourhood are still a few inches under. still, i got to ride for longer stretches than i have all this week. one side of the mup has been cleared, which was the one i took this morning. i sort of figured they'd only do one, so on the way home i gambled on that hunch, and lost. walked over the bridge on the other side yet again. it's just solid lumpy ice now.

i don't seem to have the hang of studded tires. or maybe there's no real hang to get in a situation like this. my bike's jumping and slithering all over the place; i feel like a mountain biker or a rodeo dude. i start to think the tires are overkill and kind of pointless, then i get off the bike and find out there's black ice everywhere underfoot.

only something-teen days to the winter solstice.